A Little Belief is All You Need - Words Built on CRED

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The Latin verb credere means “to believe,” and from credere we get the root CRED, which forms the base of many English words having to do with belief and believability.

MONDAY Credo (Noun), Creed (Noun)

In Latin, CREDO means “I believe.” In English, CREDO is a noun that refers to a set of fundamental beliefs that guide one’s life.  The noun CREED means essentially the same thing.  While CREED is often used to refer to a system of religious beliefs, it can be used to describe any set of guiding principles. A baker’s CREED might be “Always allow the dough enough time to rise!”

TUESDAY Credible (Adjective), Incredible (Adjective)

A credible excuse for being late to class is one that your teacher will believe. Credible means “believable” or valid. A credible effort is an effort made in good faith.  A credible deterrent is one that will actually deter (i.e. it’s believable enough to discourage defiance). 

Naturally, incredible means “unbelievable” or “not believable,” (the prefix un- being a negating prefix) but note that we rarely use incredible in its literal sense any more. A bizarre story might be truly incredible—not one that you can bring yourself to believe—but if you say that, most people will take you to mean something like “awesome.”  Incredible is now most often used as a general expression of admirable—incredible haircut! incredible pizza! incredible concert!

WEDNESDAY Credulous (Adjective), Credulity (Noun), Incredulity (Noun), Incredulous (Adjective)

A credulous person is quick to believe—just about anything. Credulity entails a lack of skepticism, or perhaps of common sense. The credulous among us believe what they read online, whether it is that carrots can cure cancer or that carrots cause it. Conspiracy theories thrive on human credulity. 

A skeptical person, on the other hand, exhibits incredulity, a reluctance to believe or to be taken in. To express incredulity is to be incredulous, and we often use this word not only to mean that someone disbelieves something but also the person is astounded and maybe disgusted.  “I was incredulous when the man sitting next to me in the restaurant reached over and took a french fry off my plate!” (A fun slang word for incredulous is “gobsmacked.”)

THURSDAY Credit (Noun, Verb), Creditable (Adjective)

Did you get credit for organizing a fundraiser? Did you earn a credit for taking that advanced Latin course? Did the store give you a promotional $5 credit toward the purchase of a pair of jeans?  If you get credit for doing something, your effort is recognized, appreciated. Academic credits are units that accumulate toward a degree, a recognition of academic work. A commercial credit is an amount or sum extended to you. 

Credit is also a verb. To credit something is to accept its believability or validity. If you credit someone’s story, you believe it. If you find the story creditable, you find it worthy of belief (credible). 

FRIDAY Accredit (Verb), Accreditation (Noun), Discredit (Verb)

To accredit something or someone is to give official recognition and authorization. We often use the words accreditation and accredited with regard to academic institutions. An accredited college, university, or medical school has been evaluated and approved as having met officially established standards. Many for-profit schools are unaccredited. Some may provide a legitimate education, but they can equally well offer little but a meaningless certificate, while squeezing  students for a lot of money.  

To discredit is to refuse to believe something or prove it to be untrue. If a newspaper discredits a politician’s explanation for voting for a bill, the paper is casting doubt on that explanation. To discredit a person is to undermine his or her reputation. A discredited scientist, for example, may be one who has engaged in scientific fraud.